Taxing Time. Review on Lagaan

Having heard so much about this movie and not being able to put the children off any further, we decided to go see it. Unfortunately by the time we did go, it had been pulled out of the nearby decent theater and was being exhibited at a place, which should not be called a theater. The title of this review is for the theater rather than the movie.

It is about 17 months since we last saw a movie so this had to be something special. The build up was great. Everyone said the movie was fantastic and a MUST SEE. I had been advised years ago that when you go to see a Bollywood flick, you leave your brains at home. This sound advice holds firm even today it seems. But this movie is an exception to the rule. The wonderful cinematography however was lost in the haze of a slightly defocused projector, whose arc lamps also required upgrading after probably 50 years of service and struggled to provide adequate illumination for a wide screen.

There is absolutely no point in my dwelling upon the plot of the movie. Apart from the fact that there is no significant plot to start with, umpteen members of this site, who have revealed almost the whole story, have already reviewed the movie. I shall instead focus on my impressions.

This should definitely not be seen as an extension of the freedom struggle. I am making this point because I get the impression that many viewers have their adrenalin levels pumped up while watching this movie due to this common misconception. The simple rural folk of Champaner are not motivated by any nationalist fervor. Rather, their motives are really selfish and down to earth. They view their dilemma in purely practical terms: Should we pay double the tax or should we take up this improbable gamble? Bhuvan’s point is simple. Can you afford to pay the enhanced tax now? The obvious answer is NO. There wasn’t enough rain the previous year and there hasn’t been rain yet this year. They view their Raja as a God-like benefactor who has their own interest uppermost in his list of priorities.

Aamir has chosen to deviate significantly from the standard Bollywood fare in one aspect. There is an element of subtle lack of emphasis throughout the movie. Two incidents stand out glaringly. The first is the first meeting between Elizabeth and Bhuvan’s group of chums. The verbal exchange with Elizabeth speaking in English and Bhuvan answering in Hindi is simply hilarious without being explicitly a comic scene. Elizabeth asks Bhuvan whether he has been watching the game. Bhuvan answers No, he was only watching the game. There are a few such subdued comic moments that I caught. I am sure there were several that passed me by unnoticed. These are the sort of fine details that make a movie like this worth a second deko. You will certainly catch other comic or poignant moments, which you didn’t the first time around.

The second incident illustrates Aamir’s respect for the intelligence of the viewer. Kachra was Bhuvan’s secret weapon who had the freakish skill of spinning the ball prodigiously. On day one of the match, Kachra is given the ball to spin his magic web and comes a cropper. Bhuvan cannot understand it. Kachra is unable to spin the ball and Captain Russel’s boys are hitting him all over the place. The next day, Bhuvan accidentally realizes that Kachra can spin again. What happened? The subtle hint given to the knowledgeable viewer is the fractionally longer focus on the old ball. On the first day Kachra bowled with the new ball, which doesn’t spin. By the second day, the ball had worn sufficiently for Kachra to display his prowess. I don’t recollect many film makers respecting their viewers’ intelligence this much.

I don’t give much importance to the romantic angle as I feel that this is peripheral to the main theme of the movie. In any case, Dharma (Venchasa)’s review has captured this aspect better than I could hope to do. The performances are all adequate. Aamir’s use of a fresh face for the role of Gauri is a brilliant stroke. As Jilmil has rightly pointed out, Aamir refrains from hogging all the limelight. The sequence of Lakha begging to join the team is handled well. One would have expected the typical Bollywood hero to act as a completely trusting holier-than-thou do-gooder. Bhuvan’s behaviour is more in consonance with what would expect in the real world.

There was only one jarring note in the movie. Apart from the problems related to the lousy theater that is. The ending of the cricket match was not consistent with the period in which it was played. Limited overs cricket was invented much later. At the start of the match it is announced that the match will be played over 3 days. Each team will play one innings and the team scoring the higher total would win. Then when there is one hour of play left, it suddenly turns into a limited overs match with the batting team given 20 overs more in the remaining time to overtake their opponents. Even the mandatory overs concept was not in existence in the period this movie purports to portray.

You may notice that I have stated in my review that the plot is virtually non-existent. Then in the section about plot, I select original and a good plot. The apparent contradiction is because of the combination of adjectives provided by MS. I think the plot gets a top grade for originality alone.

All-in-all a truly enjoyable movie.